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Africaâ€™s Media Image Lecture

â€œWestern media representation of Africa has come a long way in improvement,â€? Allimadi says. â€œBut there is still a long journey ahead. Occasionally, we still get this yearning to return to the Tarzan image days, including in major papers such as The New York Times. We still read references to â€˜tribesmen.â€™ Who the hell is a â€˜tribesmanâ€™? What kind of creature is that?â€?

Black Star News Publisher and author of The Hearts of Darkness, How White Writers Created The Racist Image of Africa (Black Star Books, 2003), Milton Allimadi will deliver a lecture at Pace University on Nov. 10 on Africaâ€™s western media image.

The lecture is organized by ASAP (African Students at Pace) and is free to all students and guests. ASAPâ€™s title for the lecture is â€œDouble Vision: Whatâ€™s Africaâ€™s Image?â€? It will be held in the Universityâ€™s â€œMultipurpose Roomâ€? from 4 pm to 6 p.m. â€œWestern media representation of Africa has come a long way in improvement,â€? Allimadi says. â€œBut there is still a long journey ahead. Occasionally, we still get this yearning to return to the Tarzan image days, including in major papers such as The New York Times. We still read references to â€˜tribesmen.â€™ Who the hell is a â€˜tribesmanâ€™? What kind of creature is that?â€? Allimadi will also sign copies of his book, also available by calling 212-481-7745. The Black Star News was founded in 1997 with seed funding from Bill and Camille Cosby.

Also delivering a lecture on the same theme is Kwabena Opong, Chief and Editor of Amandla Newspaper. A clip from â€œBarbershopâ€? will also be shown to demonstrate the mediaâ€™s depiction of Africans. Pace University is located at 1 Pace Plaza, opposite City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan. Call (212) 346-1200 or (212) 346-1133 for directions.Train stations include the #4, #5 and #6 to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall, or the #2 and #3 to Park Place.

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